EDEBÉ Young Adult Literature Award 2004: La tripulación del pánico, by Pau Joan Hernàndez

I started in this very young, at eighteen, although I had been submitting to awards since I was fifteen and trying out the publishing world. I suppose that the desire to tell stories came from my grandfather, a merchant navy officer and enthusiastic storyteller, almost like one of those sailor grandfathers that are so abundant in the LIJ. My parents' library allowed me to be an omnivorous and voracious reader, and helped me discover, even at a very young age, that what they called "teaching literature" in school had little or nothing to do with literature.

My first novel, Tot et serà pres, had a surprising success (it has already been published in 16 editions), which encouraged me to continue seriously in the world of letters. Since then, I have basically dedicated myself to Young adult literature, with some forays into children's literature. My favorite themes are those that move through that uncertain area that separates reality from fantasy, the natural from the supernatural, and history from legend. And over time I have discovered two curious things: the first, that fantastic literature is an excellent way to raise realistic themes, and the second, that for fantasy to be sustained, the realistic part of the story must be of a solidity to all proof and is, therefore, very rigorously documented. In other words, that fantastic literature can be more realistic than realistic literature.

This does not mean, of course, that I have renounced realism, and I have focused the theme of some books on euthanasia (Tot et serà pres), on the school integration of disabled children (Joana i el sis vint-i-cinc) and even in politics (Cordada de rescat).

And what else am I going to tell you? In addition to my own works, I have already published more than a hundred books as a literary translator (from Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician and French) and I practice literary criticism in the pages of the newspaper Avui.

Currently, I live in the town of Bigues i Riells, at the foot of the ruins of the Montbui castle, where a Moorish king demanded tribute from a hundred maidens, not far from the pools where the enchanted ones appear and from a farmhouse whose hereu married with a fairy Oh, and among my neighbors there is a real witch.

Bibliographic information month: www.escriptors.com/autors/hernandezpj/index.html

PUBLICATIONS

Narrative

• Tot et sera pres. Ed. Empúries, col. L'Odissea, no. 7
• SOS at six thousand meters. Ed. La Galera, col. Cronos no. 13
• False portal. Ed. Empúries, col. L'Odissea, no. 24
• Dark history. Ed. Pòrtic, col. The Young Brot, no. 19
• The Ictivela project. Ed. Pòrtic, col. The Young Brot, no. 25
• A jungle to the replà. Ed. Bromera, col. Our authors, no. 17
• Rescue team Ed. Columna, col. Jove Column, no. 57
• Land Ostadar. Ed. La Galera, col. Grumets, no. 60
• When the cerç snorts at the migdia. Ed. Empúries, col. L'Odissea, no. 83
• The problem with festivals. Ed. L'Arca, col. Whip train, no. fifteen
• The shadow of the Stuka. Ed. Empúries, col. L'Odissea, no. 98
• Joana i el sis vint-i-zinc. Ed. Edebé, col. Toucan, no. 72
• Tàrik of the great caravan. Ed. Cadí, col. Enchanted Muntanya
• The highway Cossacks. Ed. Empúries, col. L'Odissea, no. 109
• The Dead Lady pic. Ed. Empúries, col. L'Odissea, no. 114
• Arrivals of Catalonia. Ed. Cadí
• The president of the Casal del Diable. Ed. Cruïlla, col. Steam Vaixell

Poetry

• If I deny the forest… Free Mall
• Joc de daus. Ed. Columna, col. Cream, no. 12
• Greek comrades. Ed. Columna, col. Cream, no. 86
• Works translated into other languages
• SOS at six thousand meters. Ed. La Galera, col. Cronus, no. 13. Translation by Xavier Ortega
• Ostadar. Ed. La Galera, col. Cabins, no. 23. Translation by Natàlia Ribes
• The problem of festivals. Ed. L'Arca, col. Wooden train, number 17. Translation by Natàlia Ribes
• Juana and six twenty-five. Ed. Edebé, col. Toucan, no. 118. Translation by Natàlia Ribes
• Stukaren itzala. Ed. Elkar, col. Branka, no. 79. Translation by Joxan Elusegui

Literary awards

• Guspira Poetry award 1987 for D'un quadern de viatge (poems)
• Martí Dot Poetry award 1987 for Joc de daus (book of poems)
• Enric Valor Award for children's fiction 1987 for Horts de porteria (narration)
• Scientific and Technological Poetry award 1989 for Assaig introductori a l'estudi de la geometria dels sòlids de revolució (poems)
• Finalist for the 1991 Joseph Munteis Poetry award for Camarades grecs (book of poems)
• Serra d'Or Critics Award 1999 for L'ombra del Stuka
• Award from the Institution of Catalan Letters 2000 for L'ombra del Stuka
• Ramon Muntaner Award 2000 for El pic de la Dama Morta